For the second consecutive week, very few upsets has led to very few changes in the Associated Press’ weekly poll.
In its release following Week 3 of the 2013 season, the media opted to keep the Top Five the way it was after Week 2: No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Oregon, No. 3 Clemson, No. 4 Ohio State and No. 5 Stanford.
There was movement when it came to first-place votes, however, as the Tide picked up two from a week ago and now carry 59 of the 60. Those two votes came at the expense of Texas A&M and Clemson. The other first-place vote went to the Ducks.
The Tide picking up support came at the expense of the Aggies, which dropped four spots to No. 10 following their home loss to the two-time defending BCS champions.
LSU took advantage of A&M’s slide, moving up two spots to No. 6. Louisville (No. 7) and Georgia (No. 9) stayed in place from a week ago, while Florida State climbed one to No. 8 to round out the Top 10.
Matching the Aggies’ slide was Michigan, and that came after a win. Thanks to the Wolverines’ close escape against woeful Akron in the Big House, AP voters pushed UM from No. 11 after a Week 2 win over Notre Dame to No. 15. Ole Miss (No. 21) and UCLA (No. 13) moved up four and three spots, respectively, on the strength of non-conference road wins.
Nebraska, which coughed up an 18-point lead in Lincoln to the Bruins, tumbled completely out of the polls. Fellow Big Ten member Wisconsin stayed inside the Top 25 despite its bizarre loss to Arizona State, moving down to No. 25 from No. 21. The Sun Devils moved into the Top 25 (No. 23), as did Texas Tech (No. 25).
Interestingly, there are six teams in the current Top 25 with one loss, and four of them come from the SEC (Georgia, Texas A&M, South Carolina and Florida). Three of those one-loss SEC teams are ranked in the Top 12. The other two ranked teams with a loss are Wisconsin and Notre Dame.
Below is the complete AP Top 25 poll for Week 3 of the 2013 season:
